


it goes without saying

by theultimateburrito



Category: Naruto
Genre: Character Study, Childhood Friends, F/F, Femslash February, Language of Flowers, Nonverbal Communication, Young Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 03:26:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29253666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theultimateburrito/pseuds/theultimateburrito
Summary: Information is a currency, a rhythm, a language all in one. Once you recognize the patterns it’s easy to speak without saying.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Yamanaka Ino
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 6





	it goes without saying

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Yrindor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yrindor/gifts).



“There’s a meaning in everything” was the first lesson her father taught her. It’s a lesson and an example in a single, sentimental breath. The undercurrent was what every shinobi must learn first-- everything is a code; if there isn’t one to be interpreted, it’s a space in which to lay one.

“You control the message, Ino,” He told her in the shop’s greenhouse, before she even reached the countertop. He placed a stem of blueberry in her waiting palm and curled her fingers around it with a quick, affectionate squeeze. She unfurled each finger slowly, one at a time, careful to analyze each bud of blue, to remember...

Intelligent-- _clever_.

Realization sparked in her. It lit up her face, slowly, surely-- _warm._

It would be a week yet before a teacher pulled the girls aside for the kunoichi course where they would explain notable flower meanings as a footnote, just enough to be satisfactory. So maybe it’s showing off for Ino to point eagerly from flower to flower with Sakura in tow, but it’s among the things she does best, so why shouldn’t she? 

“And those,” Ino says, confidence coating her voice with a smug layer as she gestures for Sakura to look at the swath of clover growing behind the Academy. “Those mean good luck, but that’s an easy one.”

“How do you know all this?” Sakura stoops down low to look close, like it’ll help. She’s following along eagerly, but there’s a nervous edge to her tone-- _“How”_. Sakura always seems to feel like she’s falling behind, out of step with the rest of them, no matter how much Ino tries.

“Oh, we run the flower shop, my dad and me.” Ino explains, quick. 

It's hard for her sometimes, to be reassuring without getting mad, when the feeling of caring is just too big for her to hold and the message doesn't seem to be getting through. Rubbing her hands in quick circles on her knees, she moved to standing, and it dispells the feeling enough for her to sound excited when she says,

“I’ll show you sometime.” 

Sakura’s eyes linger on her for a moment, as if stunned before she comes back to herself. She nods once, quick, and her hair slips into her face until it all falls forward. It’s at that indecisive length between her chin and shoulders that doesn’t stay put without some help. With a quick movement, Sakura tucks it out of her face and Ino makes note to fix that. 

“Come on,” Ino pulls Sakura up and they’re already on the move. “There’s more over this way, by the field.”

Little by little Sakura comes out of her shell and something in Ino loosens in tandem with it. Each new definition has Sakura pointing quickly from one flower to the next, eager to know more, for Ino to show her. 

“What about these?” Sakura presses herself up against Ino’s side, pointing to the snapdragons.

Ino laughs, tipping her finger against the blooms. “They mean noisy.” 

She feels Sakura’s quiet laugh rumble against her ribs-- the echo of it flutters along through Ino’s chest as butterflies. “ _Why_?” 

“They look loud, y’know?” 

Sakura hums, even if she only half-believes it. Maybe it’s just because Ino feels loud right now, everything does, her excitement is building and building as she explains,

“And those?” 

Ino looks at the white stocks Sakura is pointing to, and the ruffled white flowers seemed to watch her right back. 

Information is a currency, a rhythm, a language all in one. Once you recognize the patterns it’s easy to speak without saying. As far back as Ino can remember, she’s been aware of how much power there is in “knowing”-- when to show her hand, when to play her cards against her chest. People assume that Ino isn’t aware of its weight, assume that she doesn’t know anything at all. But there’s power in that, too.

Ino doesn’t lie, exactly, but she doesn’t say-- she picks the flower and places it behind Sakura’s ear with a lingering touch.

Secret love.

“It looks good on you,” is all she says, and that’s enough.

Sakura flushes where Ino’s finger ghosts the shell of her ear, creeping outward until she's monochrome-- pink tip to toe. Ino’s hand hovers in the air between them, taking it in, feeling that sense of “knowing” coming into focus.


End file.
